Hogwarts.
Beep, beep, beep…
A giant, easily towering over four feet, thundered toward Hogwarts Castle on a massive, three-wheeled motorcycle.
Boom!
The wall next to the Headmaster's office exploded inward. Albus Dumbledore's brow furrowed instantly. Not again! I just finished repairing that blasted wall!
"Hagrid, calm yourself. What has happened?" Dumbledore asked calmly, taking a sip of his tea, sweetened nearly to syrup.
"It's terrible! Awful, I say!" Hagrid gasped, struggling to catch his breath. "Harry's gone! When I got to the Dursleys, he'd vanished!"
Pfft!
Dumbledore spat out his tea.
Hagrid pressed on, "Professor, do you reckon it could be Tom Marvolo Riddle…"
Given the context, this roughly translated to: Dumbledore, Harry Potter is likely already dead.
"Impossible! Utterly impossible!" Dumbledore slammed his hand on the table, standing abruptly. "Tom would never imagine I left Harry with the Dursleys. He believes I am protecting the boy!"
"Then where is Harry?" Hagrid wailed, pulling out a handkerchief, rougher than a dishrag, to wipe his eyes.
"I do not know. Let us start with the Dursleys," Dumbledore said, striding quickly from the Headmaster's office, not even pausing to repair the gaping hole in the wall.
...
Meanwhile, across town.
Tom Riddle, Cassandra Vole, and Harry Potter strolled through the streets of London.
"Sir, where are we going?" Harry asked Tom cautiously.
Tom replied without turning his head, "The Leaky Cauldron."
"The Leaky Cauldron?" Harry repeated the name, certain he had never heard of the pub.
Seeing Harry's bewildered expression, Cassandra couldn't help but offer an explanation. "The Leaky Cauldron is the entrance to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley is the wizarding shopping district, filled with all sorts of shops. Don't embarrass your teacher later."
Hearing Cassandra's explanation, Harry suddenly felt that Cassandra was rather nice. Though she often looked at him like he was a particularly disgusting insect, she was quite helpful. No wonder she's Tom Riddle's student.
Harry immediately resolved that he would not let his teacher, nor the Death Eaters, lose face.
"We have arrived," Tom said suddenly, stopping.
Harry looked up and noticed the sign above now read "The Leaky Cauldron," and that a run-down tavern was standing where he was sure one had not existed moments ago.
Click.
Tom pushed open the door and entered first.
The interior was dimly lit, but it was clear there were quite a few patrons, all dressed in wizarding robes, including elderly wizards and young children who appeared to not yet be of schooling age.
The owner of the Leaky Cauldron looked like an elderly man. From his conversation with the customers, Harry surmised that his name was also Tom, and that he was called Old Tom by the other patrons.
Hearing the door open, Old Tom and the other customers turned to examine the three figures - one adult and two children - that had entered.
Hmm… two young wizards, likely just starting out. The girl is probably of noble birth, and the boy… well, he's not particularly striking. (Harry's lightning bolt scar was cleverly hidden by his fringe.)
Looking further up, hey, this man is kind of handsome… Hmm… I feel like I've seen that face somewhere before.
The older wizards were momentarily stunned, but then a name flashed into their minds: a legendary figure who poked people's temples with his wand while shouting, "Giant Melon!"
"Holy crap! Voldemort!!!"
Clang! Clang…
The older wizards immediately shoved their children's heads under the table, muttering, "They can't see me… they can't see me…"
The children were terrified; they never expected the "Mysterious Man" they'd heard whispered about since childhood to actually appear here.
"Sir, is Voldemort calling you? Why do they look so afraid?" Harry asked, puzzled. My teacher seems perfectly nice.
Tom calmly explained, "You know, everyone in the underworld has a stage name. Voldemort is mine."
As for the other question, Cassandra fielded it for him.
Cassandra said proudly, "Isn't it normal for a teacher's reputation to be so intimidating?"
Hearing this, Harry nodded in understanding.
Under Old Tom's horrified gaze, Tom walked to the bar and sat down. "A butterbeer, please. And you two?"
"Just a glass of water," Cassandra said; she never cared for overly sweet drinks.
"Me too," Harry said, not wanting Tom to spend too much money.
Old Tom seemed to have frozen, only the pupils of his eyes twitching madly.
Knock, knock, knock…
Tom impatiently tapped the counter with his Elder Wand.
"Ah… okay! Right away!" Old Tom hurriedly turned around and began preparing the butterbeer.
After the three finished their drinks, Old Tom desperately wanted to say, "You don't need to pay, just please don't kill me."
But Tom forestalled him. "Do I look like the kind of person who doesn't pay for his meal?"
Tom immediately tossed a silver sickle onto the table, saying, "Keep the change," and then left with Cassandra and Harry.
After the three departed, the people inside the pub breathed a collective sigh of relief, then quickly fled the Leaky Cauldron as if their lives depended on it.
...
They emerged from behind the Leaky Cauldron.
The three came to a wall made of red bricks and a trash can sitting at its base.
Tom pulled out his Elder Wand and pointed to three red bricks in order. "Knock them in this order. Do you remember the sequence?"
"Yes, we do," Cassandra responded obediently, her expectant expression suggesting she wanted Tom's praise.
In truth, Cassandra had been here countless times and already knew all the details.
Harry still had a doubt. "But sir, what if I accidentally forget?"
"Heh…"
Hearing Harry's question, Tom couldn't help but chuckle. "Then, blow it up."
With that, Tom lightly tapped the wall with the Elder Wand.
Boom!
The red brick wall shattered instantly, a gust of wind swept in, carrying away the dust that hadn't completely settled.
Diagon Alley was now exposed to the three of them.
"Let's proceed," Tom said, stepping into Diagon Alley.
Watching the black robes flutter in the wind, Harry suddenly realized that perhaps… maybe… these Death Eaters were probably not good people.
Unsurprisingly, the commotion caused by the blown-up red brick wall attracted the attention of the nearby wizards.
Tom completely ignored the wizards' looks, which shifted rapidly from confusion to fear, and walked directly into the depths of Diagon Alley.
Cassandra was equally unconcerned by their stares.
Having experienced it once before, Harry wasn't surprised to see people fleeing so quickly; instead, he began to curiously observe everything around him.
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